Is it Marek's??

[seminolewind]

Thankful for this thread!

I've got a buff orpington inside right now, who I believe may have Mareks, although she is a little older than what the info gives as typical age to get this- she is just about 7 months old. 3 days ago I noticed her walking kind of funny, shaking her head a bit, and having a hard time keeping up with the rest of the flock. Then she would just sit... I bought her inside, and she has not gotten any better, she is way more off balance, she falls down sometimes. She has not layed an egg since the symptoms started, feels lighter in weight, and has been havin some green poo.

I have been closely monitoring the rest of the flock, and everyone else seems to be fine. I have some questions about this though- what are the chances the rest of my chickens will get sick?? I am also wondering if I should eventually put my poor buff out of her misery, or should I wait longer to see if anything improves??

Hi Kelly. She's not too old. At present in research they are finding out alot more about Marek's, I think because of the many more strains, and there has been a mass of people who keep their chickens longer, and buy different chickens at different times adding to their flock.

There are classic symptoms that you read about everywhere. Then there are all the other symptoms that look like they could be any illness.
If it's wasting, the poo will be a bright green. You have to rule out everything else. Crop problems, egg stuck problems, bacterial illness, coccidiosis, worms, lice, mites, etc.

I personally would keep her in the house. (I do bedroom, LOL). I've had a chicken up to 12 months old waste a way every 3-6 months, usually under a year.. I've had chicks die-one a week. I've had a vaccinated chick have total paralysis and live in my bedroom for 6 weeks and got better. We practiced walking every day. She has a boyfriend now and is in a flock. I vaccinate and quarantine every chick now.

If any of your chickens has been from somewhere other than your home hatch or hatchery day old, it may carry Marek's. Or a chicken in your flock may already be a carrier and infect newer chickens.

So you may want to give her another week or so and see if she goes downhill. And try to figure if it's something else. I would keep her separate, but anyway all your chickens have been exposed if it's Marek's. If so, you could lose one or more. It's usually one at a time, and they usually don't look sick like with an infection.

I hope I've given you some information you can use. I have some links at the bottom of my page for more reading.

Let me know what happens.

 

[kimtimp]

This has been a very informative thread. I am experiencing a 26 week old Lemon Orpington pullet that seems to be paralyzed. I walked into the coop one morning and she was laying on her side on the poo board. I isolated her immediately, while I researched her symptoms. At first I thought marek, but found this thread. I have seen her move her feet. She does kick and push off the dog crate I have her in...She just can't stand or sit upright. She has been like this for a little less than a week now. I have been giving her crushed B complex vitamins (1 per day in her feed). I will get to the feed store and pick up some vitamin additive for the water. At the time this happened, I had just started treating my flock for corid. Not sure if that could have affected her. No other issues with any other birds since this happened.
Not sure what else I can do for her.

I have lost a total of 3 pullets to Marek's. I have a similar story to yours, when I found one of my Partridge Plymouth Rocks down in the coop with no control of her legs. She was alert and otherwise active, so I fed her a diet of greek yogurt mixed with multivitamins and crumbles. I made sure she always had access to water and my husband bathed her for me nearly daily in warm water. After 2 weeks, she miraculously recovered and you would never know anything had been wrong with her if you saw her now. I had an Ameraucana that stayed with her continuously while she was ill. This Ameraucana would lie next to the paralyzed bird all day. Sadly, after the P. Rock recovered my Ameraucana became ill...same symptoms, started with limping and then progressed to extreme weakness and I was unable to save her. I have 2 other chickens that have never shown any signs of illness and it has been at least 6 weeks now. My recovered P. Rock runs around with the rest of the flock and is now laying beautiful brown eggs. All my original pullets were hatchery chicks and had been vaccinated but here's the problem: the Marek's vaccine is made from a live virus. It's given to day old chicks. The chicks shed the virus for a couple of weeks after receiving the vaccine and so should be strictly isolated from other chickens. I have learned that others who purchased pullets from the same breeder suffered the same consequences as I have and therefore, I do not buy my birds from there any longer. Also, it is important to note that vaccinating for Marek's does not guarantee your birds won't get it. Also, regarding medicated feed containing Corid for prevention of coccidiosis: if your chicks were vaccinated for coccidiosis and you feed them medicated feed, the medicated feed nullifies the vaccine. You can find this information in Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

 

[seminolewind]

Kim, I'm glad it turned out well for at least one of them.

 

[Mainechick168]

thanks so much for the additional info. The poo is not bright green- its darker. Not sure if I mentioned it, but she does seem to have some irregularities in the eyes. 5 of my girls I've had since day olds, 5 came at 8 weeks, and I got a rooster last month. I'll keep her around for awhile- she does not seem distressed, she is content to sit in quarantine.

 

[seminolewind]

(I hear Leadwolf1 whispering in my ear) you may want to get a necropsy, a state animal lab is usually cheap . If the hen doesn't make it.

 

[tdgill]

Lakebird, I fashioned a canvas chair/sling by cutting a couple holes in a folding canvas chair for the legs and a bit of the seat in a half moon so the droppings would fall away. I also gave my roo a perch underneath the seat so his legs could prop up and not hang. He loved the chair. I would sit him in it and throw scratch around and he was so happy to have his girls around. lol. I'll get a picture of it tomorrow...

 

[LakeBird]

Lakebird, I fashioned a canvas chair/sling by cutting a couple holes in a folding canvas chair for the legs and a bit of the seat in a half moon so the droppings would fall away. I also gave my roo a perch underneath the seat so his legs could prop up and not hang. He loved the chair. I would sit him in it and throw scratch around and he was so happy to have his girls around. lol. I'll get a picture of it tomorrow...

Oh I can't wait to see it! I will make one if this happens again.

 

[LakeBird]

Good news. She has been up an walking around for a little over a week now. She was walking fine inside the crate. When I put her outside with more room to move, she does well, but on occasion she walks like a drunk. I think she just need more exercise. I have since moved her into the coop inside the wired dog crate. Her hatch buddies didn't recognize her and started pecking at her so I am integrating her back into the flock like any new chicken. Just wanted to thank everyone on this thread because there were several times I thought about putting her out of her misery.

 

[LakeBird]

I have lost a total of 3 pullets to Marek's. I have a similar story to yours, when I found one of my Partridge Plymouth Rocks down in the coop with no control of her legs. She was alert and otherwise active, so I fed her a diet of greek yogurt mixed with multivitamins and crumbles. I made sure she always had access to water and my husband bathed her for me nearly daily in warm water. After 2 weeks, she miraculously recovered and you would never know anything had been wrong with her if you saw her now. I had an Ameraucana that stayed with her continuously while she was ill. This Ameraucana would lie next to the paralyzed bird all day. Sadly, after the P. Rock recovered my Ameraucana became ill...same symptoms, started with limping and then progressed to extreme weakness and I was unable to save her. I have 2 other chickens that have never shown any signs of illness and it has been at least 6 weeks now. My recovered P. Rock runs around with the rest of the flock and is now laying beautiful brown eggs. All my original pullets were hatchery chicks and had been vaccinated but here's the problem: the Marek's vaccine is made from a live virus. It's given to day old chicks. The chicks shed the virus for a couple of weeks after receiving the vaccine and so should be strictly isolated from other chickens. I have learned that others who purchased pullets from the same breeder suffered the same consequences as I have and therefore, I do not buy my birds from there any longer. Also, it is important to note that vaccinating for Marek's does not guarantee your birds won't get it. Also, regarding medicated feed containing Corid for prevention of coccidiosis: if your chicks were vaccinated for coccidiosis and you feed them medicated feed, the medicated feed nullifies the vaccine. You can find this information in Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

Thank you for the info - I will pick up the book.

 

[Mainechick168]

I think I will have the necropsy done...if it comes to that, which judging by her condition this morning, may come sooner than later- she is unable to stand now- I don't want to be keeping her around because because of me if she is miserable- I suppose we will see how the day goes...